SAN DIEGO “”mdash; As Ronald Steele’s last-second shot went
up and the stomachs of UCLA fans sank to the floor, the
Bruins’ season hung in the balance.
But it didn’t have to be like that.
Had the Bruins made a couple of free throws down the stretch,
Steele’s shot would have been rendered inconsequential rather
than decisive.
It is March, however, and there’s nothing that can foster
madness quite like missed free throws.
“We had a chance to have a bigger lead than we had if we
(had) made our foul shots,” coach Ben Howland said.
“We’ll be shooting a lot of foul shots this week back
at Pauley.”
UCLA was 5-for-13 from the foul line for the game, and the
Bruins missed six straight free throws at one point in the second
half.
Jordan Farmar missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity with
just under five minutes to play.
Ryan Hollins did the same a couple of minutes later.
And the worst offender, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, missed four
straight free throws before making the one that gave the Bruins a
61-59 lead.
“I shot it the way I usually shoot it, and I’m
usually a pretty good shooter from the foul line,” said Mbah
a Moute, a 76 percent free throw shooter. “They just
weren’t going in.”
“It’s frustrating, watching guys miss,”
Hollins said. “Then I go up there and I miss.”
Mbah a Moute, Hollins and Farmar all denied that it was
something mechanical. It just happened, they said.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, it happened to all three at the
same time.
And what if UCLA had lost, knowing that they could have sealed
the game at the free throw line?
“It would’ve sucked big time,” Farmar said.
“It would’ve really hurt. But it was some more
adversity that was thrown our way that we battled through.
“It’s tough in that situation, but still, good teams
make foul shots to win games.”
Hollins shot UCLA’s only two free throws in the first
half, making one.
ZONING RESTRICTIONS: Throughout the season,
UCLA has looked most inept offensively when facing a zone
defense.
It happened again Saturday, when Alabama’s athletic 2-3
zone frustrated UCLA for large portions of the game, forcing the
Bruins to settle for 3-pointers rather than going to the
basket.
“We’ve got to be more confident attacking, just
penetrating and moving against the zone,” Mbah a Moute
said.
Many of UCLA’s first half possessions featured the team
throwing the ball around the perimeter for most of the 35-second
shot clock, then settling for a long jump shot. UCLA attempted 13
3-pointers in the first half.
“They’re very long and athletic,” Farmar said
of Alabama. “You see that opening and you make a pass;
it’s open for that split second, but they’re running
and closing the gaps really quickly.
“We have to do a much better job spacing and helping out
the penetrators so they can’t make those plays.”
Arron Afflalo took the blame for much of the offensive
futility.
“I probably had the most problems with that, because
I’m not as good a penetrator as Jordan or Darren (Collison)
is,” Afflalo said. “They’re able to get in those
gaps and make plays for themselves.”
Afflalo was caught standing on the perimeter rather than making
something happen off the dribble, and zones are most effective when
people are simply standing around.
“We just didn’t do a good job,” Howland said.
“We have to do a good job attacking the interior of the zone,
the way it’s spread out.”
Third-seeded Gonzaga, UCLA’s Sweet 16 opponent, also plays
zone.
“Next week’s practice, we’re going to do a lot
of zone,” Afflalo said. “When you look at some of our
losses on the year and you look at the times we struggle as a team,
it’s against a zone.”
DRIBBLERS: UCLA had only one timeout for the
final 11:54, after Hollins kept two possessions alive by calling
timeout as he was falling out of bounds. “Ryan called two
timeouts, so it wasn’t my fault tonight,” said Howland,
who is sometimes criticized for using timeouts too quickly.
“That wasn’t on me.”… Saturday was just the
eighth time all season that UCLA has been out-rebounded. … UCLA
held Alabama’s Jean Felix to five points on 1-for-5 shooting.
Felix scored 31 points in the Crimson Tide’s first-round
victory over Marquette.